Illegal Indian in UAE gets outpass in 3 hours due to family tragedy

Ajman - His 58-year-old father was battling a cancerous brain tumour for over six months.

The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Ajman went the extra mile to complete a 35-year-old Indian worker's amnesty procedures in just 3 hours after learning that his father back home had passed away.
Kerala-native Rajesh Dharmaraj's 58-year-old father - Dharmaraj Pallivilavedu - died after battling a cancerous brain tumour for over six months, on August 3 - exactly three days after the worker began the procedure to avail of the ongoing amnesty scheme.
Learning about Rajesh's situation from the Indian Association in Ajman, senior officials at the Ajman Immigration fast-tracked a seven-day process and finished all amnesty procedures in two-three hours to ensure the worker was able to fly back home to his family and perform his father's last rites.
Even though the man couldn't make it to the funeral as he was late in approaching the Tasheel on Thursday (August 9), he will still be able to be there for a ceremony to mourn his father's demise.
"I was not able to attend the funeral. However, we have a ceremony in the church on August 12. I want to attend that so that my father's soul rests in peace," a visibly distraught Rajesh told Khaleej Times. Rajesh now wants to desperately return home to his grieving mother, wife, and two daughters.
Roop Sidhu, the general secretary of the Indian Association in Ajman, said if remaining procedures with Tasheel are completed, Rajesh will fly out on Sunday (August 12) early morning. His case was referred to the association on August 7, and Rajesh had a newspaper clipping that appeared in a vernacular media announcing his father's death. "This made the case genuine. We realised he wasn't bluffing," said Sidhu.
Ajman Immigration shows the way
Sidhu explained, "Brigadier Mohammed Abdullah bin Alwan, executive director of the GDRFA in Ajman, took personal interest in Rajesh's case. He, along with Sultan Al Zaabi, head of the communication section, took Rajesh out of the waiting lines and completed all immigration processes in a matter of 2-3 hours."
Sidhu added that all Indian passports with the Ajman Immigration had been handed over to the Indian Association. "Passports of Indians living in Ajman and who have been reported as absconding are with us now. However, we did not receive Rajesh's passport, and the Consulate General of India issued an emergency travel document in Dubai on Wednesday (August 8)."
Usually, there is a seven-day waiting period after completion of the fingerprints and eye scans. "However, in Rajesh's case, all immigration processes were completed immediately on Thursday. He could've flown back immediately, but he went to Tasheel only at 2.30pm on Thursday, wherein there was a system failure resulting in a delay over the weekend." Officials are trying their best to fly him out by Sunday morning.
'My company did not allow me to travel'
The father-of-two has been living in Ajman and working at a construction site since 2017.
"The agent who placed me at this site told me that I was going to work in steel fabrication. However, the work was different, and the company was not paying me salaries on time," said Rajesh. 
Around six months back, his family back home informed him about his father's illness. Rajesh requested the company to let him travel to India to meet his father for about 15 days. He claims that the construction firm instead further delayed his payments, and asked him to pay a token of Dh5,000 as guarantee. 
"When things got desperate, I escaped the company, and they filed an absconding case against me," he said. The man, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, took up petty jobs, while trying to find ways to fly back home. "Towards the end of July, I bumped into a Keralite taxi driver who told me about the amnesty scheme. I rushed to the centre on August 1 and was trying to process my paperwork," said Rajesh. Unfortunately, he could not meet his father before his death on August 3. 
"Our financial condition is still dismal, and I don't have the means even to fly back home. However, I am grateful for the help immigration department has provided. At least, I may be able to attend the final prayers. I want to come back and find work here, but before that I want to see my family," said Rajesh.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

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• Ajman